Nine in 10 Grant Thornton staff want to continue working from home April 7, 2021 Staff at Grant Thornton want to spend fewer days in the office than they did pre-pandemic, believing a more flexible approach to working would have a positive effect on them. Nearly nine in 10 (88%) employees at Grant Thornton want to work from home for at least half of the time after coronavirus restrictions ease, [...]
KPMG UK nominates audit head Jon Holt for chief executive role March 31, 2021 The board of KPMG UK has nominated Jon Holt for the role of chief executive, following the resignation of Bill Michael last month. Holt is currently KPMG UK’s head of audit, where he oversees 7,000 people, and chair of the firm’s executive committee for audit. Prior to that, he was KPMG UK’s head of financial [...]
PwC staff to head into the office two to three days a week post-Covid March 31, 2021 PwC will allow flexible working to continue when coronavirus restrictions ease, and has said staff can finish at lunchtime on Friday during July and August. The Big Four firm said it expects staff will spend an average of two to three days per week co-located with colleagues, either in the office or at client sites. [...]
Capgemini to make 1,500 UK hires in 2021 March 29, 2021 Capgemini plans to hire 1,500 new team members across the UK in the next year, adding to its existing 8,800-strong workforce. A third of the new recruits are expected to be sourced through the professional services firm’s long-running graduate and apprentice programmes, now in their 10th and 12th years respectively. The grad and apprentice programmes [...]
EY drops $11m case against whistleblower who alleged gold smuggling cover-up March 29, 2021 EY UK has dropped its appeal against a High Court case that saw a former partner awarded $10.8m in compensation. The Big Four firm was due to begin an appeal this year against a High Court ruling in favour of Amjad Rihan, who said he was forced to flee Dubai after alleging EY helped cover [...]
Grant Thornton defends audit of troubled Liverpool Council March 29, 2021 Grant Thornton has defended its audit work on Liverpool Council after a government report found the council was not providing best value for money to council taxpayers. A recent report into Liverpool Council found a litany of failures, including around a “rotten culture” of dubious contracts and backroom bullying. Official records of the council were [...]
Non-executive directors ‘can’t just turn up and take a fee’ says FRC March 26, 2021 Non-executive directors are responsible for running a business, and cannot simply turn up and cash in, the audit watchdog said yesterday. The comments made by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) followed the publication of a keenly-awaited report on audit reform by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). As part of the reforms, [...]
Deloitte paid to draft parliamentary answers and media lines on test and trace March 25, 2021 The government has been using Deloitte to help ministers draft parliamentary questions and media lines to defend the ‘test and trace’ system. Since the pandemic began, Deloitte has won public sector contracts worth £323m, according to figures from the Good Law Project. Buried in those contracts are details of help with PR and communications, with [...]
Hiring for lawyers at highest since pre-pandemic March 25, 2021 Recruitment for lawyers is at its highest level since before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, new labour market data for England and Wales has found. Professional legal recruitment took a big hit during the UK’s first national lockdown, resulting in hiring levels in Q2 2020 falling by 74.3 per cent quarter-on-quarter. Year-on-year vacancies across [...]
Burford Capital restores dividend following record year for realised gains March 24, 2021 Burford Capital has restored its dividend to its pre-pandemic level of 12.5 cents per share, and plans to pay out a full dividend in June, despite not paying an interim dividend in December 2020. The litigation founder enjoyed a record year for realised gains. The group saw asset realisations up 72 per cent this year [...]